Dance Amongst the Stars: Chapter 1
Thomas growled as he stumbled into the bleak dull apartment. The red-furred fox coughed heavily before tossing the rotting door behind him closed; the force rattling the frame, chips of blackened wood falling in flakes to the horridly twisted and distended carpet.
Striping away the coveralls and tossing them away the male padded heavily into the kitchen his foot-paws causing the floorboards to creak and groan with every step. The horrible twanging scent of decomposition hanging heavily in the air; the mounds of trash outside, piled high, responsible for the ill wind.
The young feurn sighed as he grasped the worn rusty handle, the white paint long ago chipped away. With a sharp tug the hinges gave way, the door grinding open to reveal simple darkness. The light that once dwelt inside long ago extinguished; a rough tumble with the local toughs had sent the emerald eyed fur crashing into the refrigeration unit and bashed the filament within rendering the object little more than a suspended globe of glass.
Squinting into the darkness, a furred paw groped for whatever food may still be hidden within. Feeling some rounded object the naked male quickly pulled it out; gazing lovingly at the shiny red surface of the fruit with half lidded eyes. Thomas shut the rusted refrigeration unit.
Long crunching sounds bled through the paper thin walls as the male walked through the door jam, the door long gone, to the spartan bedroom. Glancing lazily at the stained mattress and bedsheets, the floral pattern horribly out of place in such a dark and dingy filth covered room. Groaning at the thought of sleep, his weary limbs protesting his continued movement, Thomas trudged into the bathroom. A brief shower would at least quiet the pain that leaped up and down his thighs and calves.
Flipping the switch produced nothing but a brief shower of sparks, rolling his head in agitation the red furred man flicked the switch back down. Tossing aside the rotten curtain and stepping over the fiberglass lip into the basin. Thomas sighed as warm water fell over his aching muscles, the warm summer days had granted heat to the water after all, and matted his fur. The grime and filth of the factory falling away as dull claws scratched away, kneading the grime caked fur to cleanliness.
The water turned frigged suddenly, and Thomas sighed as he turned the water off. No reason to catch chill, even if it was spring a cold snap could be a bad thing even for a young one. Shaking his body from ears to tail tip the young red tossed aside the curtain before cracking his neck. What sat awaiting him left him confused.
Sitting next to the old cracked porcelain sink was a circular object, much like the one tied around his neck. Stepping over the side of the bath the male moved slowly to examine it. It wasn't there a few moments ago...was it? If it was he certainly didn't notice it at least. Leaning over with emerald eyes, he studied the thing. It was a collar, like the one on his neck, but the color was different. It was snow white in comparison to the deep blue color that choked him on occasion. White meant someone important or someone with a skill. The blue one around his neck marked commoners, unlearned masses, or just about anything else the Exarchs decided to label as 'noncritical'. There were others, but they were less common, green and yellow leaped to his mind immediately. The green the police force for the local cities...and the yellow the color of the Exarchs enforcers.
"Designation #36729, Thomas. Correct," the fox man spun on his heels towards the strangely mechanical voice, the yellow around the large armored beings neck spoke of the position of the creature in the hierarchy, the shotgun leveled towards his chest spoke of its intent. Thomas' eyes dilated suddenly as he heard the hiss-crack of the weapon and felt his chest ignite, blood blossoming from the massive gaping wound as he tilted backwards; hands desperately groping the edge of the counter as the trauma of the wound set in and the fox's body convulsed.
The light faded from the young furs eyes as he collapsed to the chipped tile, fragments biting and nipping his flesh as his heart's blood poured freely. He could just barely make out words as his perception faded away, something that roughly sounded like 'overkill'.
Blood stained the grimy off-white tiles as the fur fell into shock from the wound, if the blood loss did not kill him soon, infection would almost certainly...
~
The dull gray bulkheads of the ship mourned silently, it's mimicking its master's sorrow. "So what do I do with him now?" a surly sharp high-pitched voice growled through barred teeth. The owner sighing as he looked at the peaceful body before him. "This was not part of the plan James," moving into the light a young man no older than twelve stepped carefully towards the Dias where the fur covered body lay in repose. The young brunette turned his head away as he extended a hand to brush the fur of the being one last time, biting back tears at the thought of death. It seemed such an alien concept to him, he wasn't sure he could die anymore not since 'it' had happened. He had watched the furred being age while he never did, he watched the young kit turn into a lad then an adult, and finally to the grave but he never changed. The thought wrenched at his mind as he slowly walked away. Why did other beings die but the Kin never age, what had brought about such a change...
With an extension of thought the young man dimmed the chamber lights as the tears escaped his restraint. It would be unseemly to be seen crying...
~
"Overkill, #11," a yellow banded creature sighed as he place his paw over his face mask, his lithe form relaxed in the strange arcane armor. His tail flicked in mild amusement behind him at his friends antics.
His partner just stood there looking at the bleeding body on the ground, "Whoops," the mechanical voice laughed gratingly before the being shrugged noncommittally.
"This is Unit Ten calling for emergency medical services, sending coordinates now," the man stated flatly, mildly annoyed at the situation as he voxed the pairs location to command.
"Acknowledged Unit Ten, ETA two minutes," a soft female voice sighed, this was becoming a habit for this team. If they didn't fix it they would be retired soon...
"Two minutes and we will have a cold body to report to the Exarchs, Miss," the feline growled as he moved to remove the face mask to ignore the inevitable retort the woman would give him, the thing was stifling but protected their identities not that anyone was here right now. The big cat shook his head wildly, letting his dark mane flow from the neck of his midnight blue armor, the yellow band around his neck contrasting starkly.
The creature next to him did much the same thing taking his partner's lead in removing the face mask. Small stubby ears flicked about on top of his head and he turned towards the feline, who simply stared in annoyance before moving towards the dying fur on the grungy tile.
"First Aid won't keep him alive you know," The ursine man sighed behind his compatriot, who simply growled in response as he attempted to treat the body of the dying vulpine.
"Maybe not, but I do Not intend to be put down like some mangy cur because my partner is fucking trigger happy," the lion spat as he popped off the case on his waist and struggled with the flip-back lid. Pulling out a small vial the brown maned cat fumbled with a strange injector.
"Alright fine I get it, I am a grade-A fuck up, you happy?" the ursine creature grunted with his mechanical voice, a wound in the service several years old now. Moving down towards the dying male the pair struggled to stabilize fur with the best technology the Exarchs would entrust to such lower beings.
"NO I am NOT 'happy', happy would be me sitting at home right now after a completed mission. This is not happy, this is me desperately trying to not get executed because you don't like Foxes!" the lion shouted, his voice carrying through the thin walls into the other quarters on this floor, if anyone cared or was worried they did nothing about it. Tossing aside the emptied injector as he moved on to a strange salve dumping the contents onto the wound. The strange gel twitched and moved of its own accord as the tiny robotic machines moved to stem the flow of blood and knit the flesh, the lose of blood was already tremendous but he may survive just a little longer...or so they hoped.
~
The young brunette briskly brushed away the tears from his eyes. What good would crying do for him now. Maybe if he had noticed earlier he would have been able to do something about it. If he pushed him less maybe...
The golden eyed child wandered haphazardly through the halls of the building, the mat-black hallways absorbed the light of the fixtures laid in interweaving patterns through the ceiling. Dodging various groups of Kin in the twisting hallways as various furred beings reflexively moved away from him; The child's self loathing palpable to anyone with even the slightest bit of empathy. Sadly not all people were possessed of such a skill.
"Out of the way brat," A sharp voice spoke before a rough shove sent the child bouncing to the ground; The child turned upwards and gazed at his assailant as she passed. "As you will Lady Dira," the woman's gray hair was tied back in great flowing waves and danced behind her body as she moved gracefully through the hallway, her entourage scrambling after her lithe graceful body.
The woman paused and turned on heel and glared at the boy stark green eyes burning like balefire, "No snappy remark brat?" she sneered in annoyance as the small boy shrugged, "Not today milady," that was troubling. The brat always had something, stupid and corny it was part of the routine she had come to expect. She had even diverted off her normal path just to hear it and now this of all things, infuriating.
"Fix yourself Aeir, you look pathetic," the woman griped before turning off back down the hallway. The boy gave no response as the green eyed woman marched off, her retinue following after her as she huffed her way through the building.
"I am," gold eyes welled with tears once more as the boy stumbled to his feet, trembling hands supporting his moves as he traced his path along the cold walls. Placing his hands on a access panel and tapping a few keys the child fell through the door unceremoniously dropping to the cold metallic floor with a cloth padded thud.
A flash of white greeted the child's senses. Right before his nose a pair of envelopes. With trembling hands he grasped the twin pieces of white paper and glanced to at the writing scrawled on the front. One to an 'Aeir Delinth' the other had nothing written on its face. Aeir stared at the writing of the first envelope, he remembered it vividly in fact. Tearing the sealed paper open the child studied the writing. Yup it was just who he expected it to be, "Recall notice for the Telcis to Seiros orbital dockyards, crew transfer notice for me. How the fuck does everyone else find out about these things before I do?" The child crumpled the paper before sticking it into his mouth and chewing on the orders. A bad habit? Perhaps but one the child was fond of especially hand written orders. Those always meant something 'special'. And he for one wasn't quite in the mood for special.
"I suppose I owe Father a modicum of gratitude..." The child swallow the paper; Tasted like his cooking. The child gave a small smirk at that thought before looking to the next envelope. Its plain eggshell white color had an odd texture that wiped the smirk from the golden eyed boys face. "How long have you been here? I was only gone a few cycles..." Kipping up to sit in an upright position the boy tore open the paper like a child at Christmas. Yanking out the contents of the shredded paper with preternatural precision the child devour the contents, golden eyes burned as they read the note...
_"Aeir, what do I write here honestly? What can I write to comfort you my friend?"
"Is there anything honestly? You were always sour so I can only imagine how you are now."
"Lady Dira will probably be the first to know other than the old doc, you two just have that thing."
"I had a lot of secrets, most of which you promised me to keep, but I have a few of my own. Look at my quarters. I know you like mysteries and puzzles so I guess this is the best parting gift I can give you.
"I guess I am losing it all. Nothing lasts forever, I am sorry I am not perfect old friend."_
"If there is an afterlife I will keep your seat warm till we meet again."
"Sincerely James, #27203"
"Bastard," Aeir breathed as he folded the note and tucked it into his robing. The brunette laughed as tears failed to leak from his eyes any longer. The child placed his palm over his face as he broke into hysteria, that was a horrible last joke. What a cruel thing to send to him. Aeir laughed insanely as he sat on the ground of the gloomy room, him perfect? Preposterous! The perfect payback for all the jokes he had mustered against the vulpine for near sixty years. "Bastard! You went on without me!" Aeir fell back onto the floor and continued to laugh as he gazed at the ceiling his eyes picking out the complex patterns etched above and inlaid with lighting fixtures. "At least I will have a warm seat," The little boy coughed as his laughter began to die down into chuckles before subsiding completely.
~
Scintillating colors danced in the sight of the man as he floated through the void of flickering light. The breeze of the air around him comfortably warm like the spring currents gently caressing his fur as he laid in the shifting stream of iridescence. "Where am I," The man sighed quietly, though his voice carried endlessly through the void around him. The strange hues were dizzying and he half expected to have some sort of convulsion from the display, but his body never seemed to relent to the scheme before him.
"My pocket," A sharp voice growled causing the man to flinch. The feminine tone grated on his sense as if the mild tone she used was like a industrial motor in his ears. Hands flashed to cover long ears that flicked back on the beings long skull.
"Loud," He breathed reflexively as the colors shifted and began to fade away, shifting into a soft crimson like the color of flowing blood. The facet of cut crystal forming around the man's floating form as the outside world blurred into view through a haze of ruby. The fox man stared dumbly...did he shrink?
The heavy thudding of boots echoed on etched marble floors as the woman marched through the massive Gothic architecture. The great windows flung opened to the sky above as the warm spring air breezed through the musky chambers. The massive chandeliers above glittering with a thousand sparkling colors as the light refracted from their beautiful forms.
"Am I dead?" The red furred critter breathed in bewilderment at the scene around him as dozens of functionaries swiftly danced around the room in an ever churning press of bodies, but never approaching the woman who's pocket he was supposedly in. Thin robing concealing their bodies as they moved with a pitter-patter like rain, it was oddly soothing for some reason.
"Will you shut up and stay quiet." The woman growled again and the fox quickly grasped his ears again as pain washed over his senses and twisted his perception of the room, the vision dimming and the view becoming increasingly obscured.
"What will it take to shut you up, Kniht?!" The woman called out, exacerbated flicking her head over her shoulder to shout at the person who was apparently following them. The woman ran long spindly fingers through her auburn hair as she spun around on the man behind her. The man's chocolate eyes widening as she swung an overwhelming hammer swing to which he deftly back peddled to avoid the unconscious state that the woman most certainly would have bestowed upon him.
"I'm just saying its worth more to sell than keep as a trinket," The man cocked his head at the fuming woman, in all his years he had never met someone so impulsive. You would think immortality would solve things like patience problems, sheesh.
"Enough. Go do something else you idiot. I have a meeting," The green eyes of the woman fumed as she turned away from the man stomping deeper into the halls leaving the brunette to stand there confused. "Women," The man laughed as he slowly paced after the auburn hair female. He would relish getting his hands under that robe if he could just...fzzt.
A flash of light found the man sitting on his tailbone. The crackling field of light before him barring his path. "Well that is not very nice...damn..." Stumbling to his feet the teen sighed before turning around looking for a different path into the inner sanctum of the palace. "All the time in the world," He laughed as he strutted away and down another section of hall unfazed by the obvious deterrent...
~
Thomas looked dumb founded as his vision cleared within the crystal, whatever it was seemed to react to the owners mood. That meant this was some sort of technology used by the Exarchs...did that make the woman holding the stone he was trapped in an Exarch? Weren't they twenty foot tall monsters that tore furs limb from limb. They were right? If not then what were those things in the street all those years ago...
The fox starred befuddled at the female's face. It looked like a female at least. Slim delicate features, small eyes, higher voice, that seemed right. "So you cannot hear me?" He realized dejectedly as he recalled the confrontation with the other one of its race...wait was that a male? He wasn't sure, he hadn't really gotten a good look at him, some brown fur on top of his head and the rest of his body concealed underneath these strange robes. How could they wear those things? Didn't it make their fur itch underneath it? Sheesh. Did they even have fur underneath there? Their heads didn't at least. That was odd right?
"Well that is a good thing, because wow you look like a shaved rat or something," the fox laughed as he sat suspended in the not-space of the ruby, barking madly. Anything to erase the sinking feeling of dread that his thoughts were drifting towards. Maddening questions drifted to the fore of his mind. The most persistent, how did I get stuck in this thing? He struggled to recall his memories...he was in the shower...then some strange collar....then his name...then nothing, it felt like someone had blasted a hole in his memories three spans wide.
"So where are we going exactly? I mean I am sure your a nice female and all but being stuck inside this...thing," the fox gestured to the facet around his floating form, "is just really odd. So how about it?" The fox blabbered incessantly, if indeed the strange being with his prison was able to hear him it gave no sign, instead simply treading onward through the darkening halls.
~
Ali was less than amused, first that idiot showed his ugly mug again and insisted she cough up the stone suspended around her neck so he could pawn it. To who?! Who would take military grade soul traps for fuck's sake! After that the stupid thing in the necklace had decided to be mouthy and insulting. She could barely understand his pathetic rudimentary understanding of the Tongue, but what she did understand were the insults about her appearance. It took all her admittedly limited amount of willpower to suppress the urge to smash the tiny gem and the soul of the being within. Those idiots couldn't follow one simple command and now she had a fox in a jar...gem, whatever.
And now she was going to be late to a meeting with her employer. Okay, technically he was everyone's employer but that was not comforting, quite the opposite. The man simply known as the Lord Exarch was supposedly frightening in the extreme. With a gaze that could freeze even the stoutest hearts. A part of her realized this was probably propaganda but ever since the Incident she wasn't quite so sure. Thirty Billion souls snuffed out in an instant...the thought made her shudder. She had been on that planet earlier that day and had she been unlucky enough...she couldn't finish the thought as her feet ground to a halt before a series of massive crystal double doors. Each standing sixty feet tall with three progressive gateways along the narrow path. It was intimidating, the massive etchings scrawled into the crystal seemed to flicker and move of their own accord even as a pair of massive armored guards stood beside each. Their twenty foot tall forms frightening the woman as they stood statuesque, as if they were some automaton. Any Kin knew the truth, they were ancient warriors swore to protect their Lord unto death, martial masters that could lay low an army given the chance simply to please the man they protected behind those strange doors. With a gulp the auburn haired woman stepped slowly forward and uttered a silent prayer to whoever would care to not let her die.
~
The fox flinched as the light flowed back into his strange prison. The massive doors were like everything else in this place, stunning in ways he could hardly believe existed. But that was not what made him frightened. No the 'things' by the door. "Exarchs," he breathed in terror, as the being holding his facet marched forwards. He could feel the beings trepidation. Maybe they weren't so different. Maybe they did the same thing to its kind that was does to his. Those hopes dissolved the instant those 'things' bowed to the 'thing' holding his prison. Bowing meant showing respect. They respected her, that meant she was one of them right? She had cause all of that. That SHE was responsible for that day. Thomas screamed and bellowed in anger, raging against the prison with every fiber of his being. They did it, they killed everything! They did this to him, they trapped him in this damn thing! The fox spun wildly desperately attempting to grab anything in the smooth floating hell. He made no progress as the female passed through the next set of doors with the same results, simply twisting in the center of the ruby like facet while screaming obscenities at those things.
Ali struggled to keep a straight face as the damn beast in the soul catcher blubbered and bellowed about something incomprehensible. Demanding the elite guards of this place to die and do inappropriate things that would have made her baby sister blush. All the while she silently agreed with the thing in the gem. Those things were anything but human. They were little more than killing machines programmed to serve the Exarch. That bothered her less than the way they moved, their statuesque forms animating in an instant giving a great bow to the woman before opening the massive doors. Their form well practiced was graceful and beautiful even in their massive powered suits, the neural links turning the strange armor into little more than an extension on their bodies. She couldn't help but marvel as she walked by, the etching on the suits was needle fine. Thousands of names and numbers etched into the armor. It made her shiver involuntarily as she passed the final gate. Everyone ever killed burned into the armor for the warrior, a personal account of deeds and feats they had preformed in their lords name. Why in hell would humanity ever create something so twisted?
Thomas panted as the female holding his personal hell marched on, a slight hitch in her step for a moment that disappeared as quickly as it came. He was trapped. Helpless inside what he could only think of as some sort of torture device. He felt heavy and listless, having desperately thrown himself about in the space had done little other than that. However they placed him within it he could not find a way out. A thought then occurred to him. What if this wasn't a prison but some sort of torture! What if somehow this was like the giant displays the Exarchs had designed in the squares used for their announcements? But instead all around just to torture him...what if this was their famous reeducation?! The thought made the fox man shudder and pull himself into a ball on reflex. If that was true then this was just a preliminary test for something worse...right?
Ali sighed as the shrieking thing in her necklace had finally shut its trap, took the damn thing long enough. Her foot steps echoed softly as she approached the final leg of the journey. She stopped at the archway into the final sanctum. And nearly fell over.
The light change caused the curled up ball of floating fluff to peak its head out at what fresh new hell had presented itself. And he was quite honestly shocked at the sight. The room itself was rather dull other than the massive suite of logic engines that sat buried into the walls, no it was what was happening in the room that made the fox bewildered beyond all hope or reason...
~
The shuffling of paper scratched at the walls as the brunet child thumbed through stacks of ink that laid strewn about the floor of the sparse cabin. He was honestly quite surprised. All the souvenirs they had bought together, what happened to them? All the twit seemed to keep were the receipts...oh. Ouch. The child rolled his eyes as it hit him. Of course...well at least that always explained why he always had spending money.
Sighing Aeir tossed another handful of pages on to the floor next to him. Maybe he was looking at this wrong, it wouldn't be this simple right? He said a mystery, and that meant something hidden so it wouldn't be in plain sight. Unless it was. Damn it! He was over thinking this. "Ok go for the obvious then move onto the complex," the child breathed heavily as he began to feel his ire rising. Glancing around at the floor to his right he suppressed a groan. This would take a while.
Several hours later the station-vessel quaked as the ship was shunted into the hyperspace lane to Seiros. Took long enough. Tossing aside the last stack of papers the golden eyed child flopped on his deceased friend's bed and stared at the ceiling overhead. The matte black bulkhead was traced with the beautiful interwoven lights, the strange patterns traced all along the vessel made it a true work of art. Trillions of nanites had constructed the thing in a mere day. A testament to mankind's advancements and supremacy in the universe. When they had first left that blue marble they had expected to find life in the Great Wheel...but they never did, ruins of other civilizations but never life. Not at least until they began to seed life for themselves. With the advancement of technology ever further forward they had pushed the moral boundaries...or broken them in several cases. Every living being that was not human, was a creation of one. That is when the incident happened....
A thought bounced through the brunettes head like a rubber down a hall. Slapping his own face the child rolled from the battered bed and looked under it. A mass of filth and dirt concealed a small tin lock box. Tin how...quaint. The small child didn't bother to search for the key before bashing the flimsy tin against the bed posts, the strong ceramic sent a crack through the room as the attempt accomplished little. "Okay force doesn't work," the child grinned as he pulled out a small straight edged knife from his boots and fumbled to find the matte black switch...what was with these people and black sheesh. Finding the switch and giving it a good flip with his teeth, the edge flickered to life as a cascade of blue white energy flushed the surrounding space about the edge of the weapon. Grabbing the over-sized weapon the child mutilated the top of the box. Sparks dancing as his face was cast in the strange light glow of the weapon. With a flick of the switch the light disappeared again and the child replaced it into the holster in his boot. The extreme heat disappearing into the mesh of the object, bled away by advanced cooling units. "More force does though."
Staring at the gray box on the floor the boy cocked his head as the heat faded from it. Glaring at the material as if his thoughts would cool it any quicker. Somewhere in the back of his head the thought of cutting the box open along the top first to avoid breaking anything inside appeared. Only to be crushed by pure childlike enthusiasm. It had been a long time since he had solved some sort of puzzle and little exited him like a good puzzle. After all something couldn't be solved with force.
As the heat faded the child snatched up the tin with lightning like speed before shaking the contents from the new 'top' he had improvised. A few slips of paper and some sort of object wrapped in blue cloth fell forth with the crumpling of paper. Snatching the paper jealously the child unfolded each one with an odd reverence. Like that of a child opening the greatest toy he was ever given. Reading each slip the child gazed at the set of clues before unraveling the cloth wrapped around the object inside. Reveling in the feel of the soft microfiber as flash of light fell into his waiting hands. The object twinkling in his tiny hands. He smiled at it before closing his eyes and standing to his feet, his legs aching from the awkward position he had been sitting in. Giving the room one last glance over his shoulder the child smiled as he hung the necklace around his neck, the white-gold glittering in the low-light of the cabin as he strode from it. A pair of gray-blue guards saluting him as he passed through the jam into the corridors of the ship. The pair fell into position on either side of him as he marched stoically through the corridors. The glittering necklace around his neck a testament to the best friend he would ever have.
"How long until arrival?" the child demanded as they walked the twisting corridors. Ten years on this floating hulk had done much to familiarize the boy with the nature of the decks and the composition of the crew, even as more of man's creations skittered away from his advancing form. "One hour, fifteen minutes as of current. The whales are supposed to be singing as well if you wish to have a listen," the uniformed man stated briskly prompting the boy to simply shrug in response. "And to the Palace?" he looked to the man on his right, his dirty blond and beard placed him in his early thirties the child estimated. The man flinched as he met the child's eyes. Weren't they supposed to be golden in color? The crimson that sat there was unsettling..."Focus!" the small being barked making the blond man flinch before he continued. "Another five minutes after we drop to the palace assuming you are packed and ready Exarch."
Aeir rolled his eyes in annoyance as they continued, the pair next to him blathering on about meeting his father again. It wasn't that big of a deal. He was more excited to see Fury again. That beast would be about old enough now to ride. Breeding those things was a bit of a hobby, but the riding of one was a True art-form. Their elegant forms dancing through the air with precision that even modern technology struggled to match within the atmosphere, not to mention the bio-plasma. That damn stuff that would blow holes in the side of a spacecraft that could shrug off magna cannons and plasma bursts. A marvel of bio-engineering.
"...and then that should be the end of your meetings today my Lord." the man on his right finished as they entered into the lift. With a humming noise the transit whisked upwards to the bridge of the massive vessel. With a dinging noise the lift ground to a halt; nine hundred feet in less than a minute. Beautiful.
Stepping out of the lift the child smiled as hundreds of functionaries moved gracefully around the bridge tending different consoles that truly only required a mere handful at most. No doubt most of them were simply trying to look busy rather than actually doing any true work at this point in the voyage. Shaking his head the child shooed the pair of escorts as he fell into the rhythm of the bodies around him swiftly making his away across the central platform towards the dais sitting against the wall in the center of the massive room. Several floors hovered above suspended by powerful anti-grav motors that hung lazily in the air.
"You've cheered up then?" the gray haired woman he had come to known well. growled in her eternally aggravated tone. The boy nodded as he moved to stand next her chair looking through the massive view screen that occupied the majority of the far wall. "Good, your father would have me dumped in a ditch somewhere if you went home depressed," the woman spat, rolling her eyes in an over-dramatic fashion.
"Always good to know you are concerned milady." Aeir ground out with as much respect as he could towards the woman as he watched the stars flutter by in the view screen, the streaking blue distorted occasionally by the light of the stars dancing by in real space.
~
Emerald eyes widened as they fixated on the group arrayed around the table in the center of the musty room. These were the people responsible for it all. He could feel his breathe quicken as every eye in the room settled on his warden; to her credit she didn't flinch when their frozen eyes turned from the body pinned to the table to her.
"Alinna, what a pleasure I hoped whatever delayed you was not serious." The booming voice of the Lord Exarch shaking the room. The thoroughly unnecessary speakers positioned in the ceiling above making the air distort under the force.
The young woman's eyes were glued to the form nailed to the table, for want of better term, the creatures breathing labored as blood flowed freely over the sculpted stone. She could feel her stomach churn as the creature whimpered in agony, the fresh air piped in from the outside adding a new level to cruelty as if blew forcefully against the exposed flesh of the being.
"No my lord, just traffic." The woman moved gracefully through the room disturbing the dust ever so slightly as she crossed it towards the table. This was the depths humanity could plummet to. Torture for nothing more than mere amusement, despicable.
Thomas desperately struggled to not look as the macabre display laid across the table, the flayed form of the furry being laid open to the world. Stripped down to the fur as its crimson spilled freely into the twisting design. Who the hell were these...these THINGS?! What gave them the right to treat the life of another living being with such cruel indifference?! Ten 'things' arrayed around the table with seats for three more. All with those watching his keepers' every movement. Four females, five males, and a cub? A cub! Who would bring their own offspring to see such a thing?! His eyes held something different, amusement. Something about this seemed funny to him somehow those piercing red eyes they...they were looking at him, not his keeper...
As the female holding his prison sat the male at the head of the table smiled an oddly serene smile, it looked strange on the blond man who's hair fell to his mid-back. His blue eyes wrinkled and twisted with age, with a guess he would place him in his later life maybe his fourth decade, an old man by any furs account.
"We shall begin then. To the west Serain's forces were assaulted earlier today. After a series of veiled threats and heated discussion the aggressors have agreed to return the captured resources to his capital. Due to the heating of relations with the aggressors we had the fleet expanded sixty percent. Lord Azix if you would." The man rolled his head to the highly decorated man sitting in strange regalia. The odd uniform, a deep midnight blue with strange embroidery that seemed to shift and writhe about with a life of its own, was the first the of the fabric the fox had ever seen. It was oddly entrancing, his eyes reflexively tracing over the convoluted designs it was so distracting and tiring he let the lids over his eyes droop slightly as he felt himself being pulled away, the scene on the table began to bother him less as the hypnotic pattern danced through his mind.
~
Aeir was bored. He could physically feel himself drifting off as Lord Azix droned on over the status of some news several days old that everyone already knew about. The crystal around Alinna's neck could offer some distraction, but upsetting one's Kin by probing the depths of their soul was rarely a wise path to anything other than the most severe throttling one could physically imagine. Plus whatever in there had to be fairly important for her to risk bringing it to such a high level meeting with the Lord Exarch. The only question now was what did it contain, information, souls, or something darker...
Fumbling with his robe Aeir pulled out a small data-pad and glanced at the time on it. Ugh, this was going to be a long meeting. He quickly glanced around at the others settled around the table; no one seemed particularly interested in the rehash, even the Lord Exarch seemed to be drifting away towards the aether once more. He hated that place, it was a pale imitation of the real thing, another stupid failure to add to the list.
"...and as such resources have been redistributed towards the capitol in order to finalize the installation of the new magnetosphere generators and nano-carbon plating, the new weave will..." argh, trying to focus on that would put him to sleep faster than trinanine-ostoren taken with alcohol. What he would give to see that place one more time, he could feel it still burning in his chest, that power, that god-hood. He shuddered involuntarily his back arching at the thought as that familiar sensation washed over him. He glanced around quickly in embarrassment, that feeling akin to sexual stimulation supposedly, not he knew to be honest. Being stuck as a child for eternity did hinder certain aspects of life. No seemed to have noticed or they didn't care if they did, damn sometimes he wished it was easier to read these people, decades of experience with poker faces had turned each one of them into the perfect statuesque picture of a soulless person.
~
Alinna looked at Aeir with a crooked eyebrow as he recovered from his thoughts, must have been pretty good whatever it was, she struggled to suppress a snort at his antics. Sixty years and he hadn't changed a day, she couldn't reason if that was a good thing or bad, so she settled to lump it in with the later. Always air on the side of caution and whatnot. She found herself completely unable to listen to the droning sound of the aging man who spoke with purpose and fire as if the words that flowed so elegantly from his tongue had meaning. People never changed, the same archetypes, the same attitudes flowed through each generation perpetuated by the previous one in an endless cycle. At least these Feurns were interesting. Their attitudes, how they coped with stress, how they responded to praise, all so similar but with such a strange twist, it almost made her sad that they would be on their own if all went according to the plan. The one in the stone around her neck would be lucky...or unlucky; it depended on how one viewed the situation. From a big picture she was sure it made flawless sense, but something still nagged in her mind. She found herself wondering how they would cope with such a sudden collapse of everything they knew and clung as they drifted through the ebon void.
~
Aeir watched delightedly as the rest of the people in the room slowly filtered away, only the Lord Exarch and himself still sitting at the table. He was fairly sure he had caught the old man off guard with his request for a private audience. He was surprised when it was granted, he expected to be blown off and sent packing, not today it seemed.
"Thank you for this audience Lord Exarch," if Aeir's tone was anymore abrasive it could have stripped paint but the man at the head of the table paid no notice. The serene smile never faltering from his carved marble face.
"I am glad you wanted to talk Aeir, how have you been all these years?" his tone chipper was grating, and his body language spoke that he had been expecting this, damn it does everyone know what goes on in my life?
"I'm a bit surprised that you..." the sentence was finished abruptly as the female on the table spasmed, her body wreathing against the bonds that had pinned her causing blood flecks to flutter through the air. Aeir sighed as he turned his eyes to meet the sculpted gold embedded in her sockets, he couldn't help but gaze as they sat there dilated in agony. They were beautiful, like a work of art; just like the lines sculpted into flesh and fur. An absolute beauty.
"Knew that your adjunct had died? Half the citadel knows, and the other half is applying for the job," Aeir's eyes snapped from the Feurns orbs towards his superior smoothly as he gazed on the man he struggled to comprehend his attitude, how any man could be so peppy after such a meeting and such...scenery bothered him. It was like he had no soul, something Aeir could see very well he did. And it was just as bright and flawless as his face; it was disquieting on levels he could barely perceive let alone articulate with any language that he knew.
"No. Well yes that, but I am surprised that you would recall me at all. Father must have pulled your rope fairly viciously to even get you to hear the thought let alone bring me back here, so I suppose the real question I have to ask is why did you actually bring me back and what game are we playing," if Aeir expected to shake the man he would have been very disappointed to say the least, instead his smile simply widened.
"I need you to start a war."